County note shelf
Roscommon County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Roscommon County. This shelf has 5 practical notes and 10 local stories.
15 notes
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- Money and taxesGood news on local income tax in RoscommonRoscommon County has no cities, so no local government here can tax wages — but Grayling, 15 miles up I-75, takes 0.5% from nonresidents who work inside its limits.
- History and cultureSt. Helen: a lumber town turned lake town (and the Bluegill Festival)St. Helen grew from a major lumber operation into an easygoing Lake St. Helen community with the Bluegill Festival.
- History and cultureThe village of Roscommon: county seat on the Au SableRoscommon is the county-seat village on the South Branch of the Au Sable, with logging roots and the Michigan Firemen's Memorial.
- OutdoorsLiving on Lake St. HelenLake St. Helen is Roscommon County's east-side all-sports lake, with legal lake levels and special assessments to ask about.
- History and cultureHiggins Lake's other story: the nursery that helped replant MichiganThe Higgins Lake Nursery and CCC Museum tells the conservation story behind the forests around Higgins Lake.
- OutdoorsLiving on Higgins Lake: deep, cold, and famously clearHiggins Lake is a deep, clear, premium lakefront market in Gerrish, Lyon, and Markey townships.
- History and cultureTip-Up Town USA: Houghton Lake's winter on the iceTip-Up Town USA brings Houghton Lake's winter resort season onto the ice each January.
- OutdoorsHoughton Lake: access, shallow water, and buyer checksMichigan DNR calls Houghton Lake the state's largest inland lake. It is broad but shallow, with three current state launches and two separate parcel districts buyers should check.
- OutdoorsThe American Robin — and Michigan's Other BirdThe cheerful robin has been Michigan's state bird since 1931 — but the Kirtland's warbler, which nests almost nowhere but Michigan, may be the most Michigan bird of all.
- OutdoorsThe Brook TroutMichigan's state fish is a jewel-colored native of cold, clean water — and a stand-in for the trout-fishing heritage that gave the country Trout Unlimited.
- History and cultureThe Eastern White PineMichigan named the eastern white pine its state tree in 1955 — honoring the timber that built the state, and that the state nearly cut down to the last trunk.
- OutdoorsMichigan's six scramble areas (and the Silver Lake rulebook)The open-riding playgrounds of Michigan off-roading — Silver Lake's dunes, Holly Oaks, The Mounds, St. Helen, Bull Gap, and Black Lake — and the extra rules each one layers on.
- Home and propertyOut in the township? Plan on a well and septic — and check them before you buyRoscommon County townships are buyer-beware for private wells and septic systems at sale.
- Money and taxesBuying in a township? Watch for special assessments on top of your taxesMichigan township buyers should check for special assessments that can add separate road, sewer, water, lighting, sidewalk, or drain charges.
- Money and taxesIn Michigan, you get two property-tax bills a year — not oneMost Michigan property owners get separate summer and winter tax bills, with local rules deciding what lands on each bill.